Monday, January 17, 2011

The frontpage news on the Sunday Oregonian newspaper is about how the water and sewer bills in Portland are *soaring* as the Portland Water Bureau spends its way to the poorhouse apparently on the backs of the ratepayers. The city's average monthly combined sewer and water bills have climbed 83% over the past decade to about $92 per month, and are projected to increase to $116 by 2015, making it fifth highest out of the 50 most populous cities in the US. The article goes on to say that many other big ticket items are going to be required to keep the city's water and sewer system in compliance with unfunded mandates of the Environmental Protection Agency. But some of the proposed expenditures have little to do with EPA mandates. For example, consider the Helicopter Landing Site Evaluation and the Water Resources Education Program, both probably worthy projects among the multi-page listing, but along with the $600,000 house that was built and scheduled to be sold in an area where the real estate brokers indicate that it is worth half that, leaves the water customer a little tense. Add in the uncertainty associated with climate change, and you get the picture. I don't live in Portland, so I just watch from the sidelines. But given the apparent wealth of water in this region of the world, especially this week with the record rains and floods, it does make one wonder why the water is more expensive than say, Phoenix.

Then I read this article titled "Bottling Wastewater Expands Island’s Oasis—Singapore’s NEWater Solution to Scarcity". Here is the answer to paying for all of the new water & wastewater infrastructure, in addition to the bike paths and bioswales that Portland wants to build. Sell Portland's wastewater as bottled water!

Recycled treated wastewater, which Singapore has branded “NEWater”, is providing 30 percent of the Southeast Asian island city-state’s total demand for fresh water.

The small, densely populated island enjoys heavy rainfall (like Oregon), but lacks sufficient watersheds and natural rivers from which to draw water. Because space to store water is so tight, the city of five million residents has always relied for its drinking water on unconventional sources—including imports—and has transformed two-thirds of its landmass into storm and water catchments.

Until this year, imports from neighboring Malaysia accounted for 40 percent of the nation’s 300-million gallon daily demand for fresh water. For political and economic reasons, however, the government decided not to renew the import contracts, which were signed in 1961 and expire in 2011 and 2061. When imports end, Singapore’s three freshwater sources will be local—rainfall in catchments, desalination, and NEWater.

NEWater is Singapore’s own brand of reclaimed water and is essentially wastewater purified by two rounds of treatment. Initially used for industrial purposes only, a small portion of NEWater is now returned to reservoirs, where it blends with rainwater before entering the standard drinking water treatment and distribution system.

To make potable water out of what goes down the drain and toilet, Singapore’s NEWater recycling plants take water from standard treatment facilities and then use an additional three-step purification process: micro-filtration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet treatment. The end product meets drinking water standards set by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Singapore’s own national agency.

The article goes on to say that NEWater is not sold in stores....yet.

Oregon has something similar where a clever entrepreneur figured out that they could make money selling the fruit of our grey skies - Oregon Rain. Now if only Oregon could figure out that to pay for all of these goodies, they need to work like other western states which require a *fee* to be paid to the state *rainy day fund* for natural resources like oil, gas, coal, uranium, trees, etc. But such an idea is blasphemy in Oregon where there is no sales tax to fund government, either. Water as "Oregon's Oil"? Not the first time or last time we will hear about this novel idea.

Clearly, new ways of looking at the way water is used and reused makes *cents*. Clearly, the colors of water all lead to a pot-o-gold, yes, even for those addicted to goldwater.

Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on this topic. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him. So I should thank you for the free lunch I got.

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About Me

This blog was an experiment in social media and networking for a class that I teach in water science and policy. You will find more than 300 postings here searchable through the key word search bar. Want to learn more about cool greywater equipment, type "gadgets"; "living building", etc. Type in "permit" to learn more about permitting greywater systems. Opinions are my own even though the blog is used as a learning resource. Thanks for reading.

Colors of the blog logo?

The Peace Flag? The Gay Pride Flag? All good guesses, but no, it is the Cuzco Wiphala which I first observed in 1984 in Cuzco at the Inti Raymi festival. It consists of seven horizontal stripes representing the colors of the rainbow. The significance and meanings for each color are as follows:

Red: The Earth and people

Orange: Society and culture

Yellow: Energy

Green: Natural resources

Light Blue or White: Time

Blue: The heavens

Purple: Self-determination

Colors of Water

Clearwater many times thought to have come from a fresh water spring. Because water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and both elements are invisible gases is a reason why water has crystal clear appearance.Tough to find these days in a natural state. Easy to find in a manufactured state and trapped in a bottle.

Whitewater, historical reference to noncorrupt activities by the Clintons pursued by a former special prosecutor. Sometimes also refers to water with lots of air or dissolved gas.Also connected to rapidly flowing water in rivers where lots of fun can be had in a multitude of floating devices. With incompetence in one arena, and competent treatment in the others, these waters remain harmless.

Greywater or graywater has many different definitions, I guess some could say “quasi conspiratorial” if one considers that graywater is neutral between whitewater and blackwater, but my previous job as a volunteer for the State of Oregon focused on HB 2080 which defines graywater as: “shower and bath waste water, bathroom sink waste water, kitchen sink waste water and laundry waste water. Graywater does not mean toilet or garbage wastes or waste water contaminated with soiled diapers.”No grey area in this definition.

Blackwater has many forms including a name formerly connected to a defense contractor who apparently liked the color of water in the Great Dismal Swamp of North Carolina. Also a Doobie Brothers. But in the water world, it is untreated wastewater from both urban domestic use and rural septic tanks. Blackwater also occurs in Australia as organic material, such as leaves and bark, that is washed into the river by a flood thus causing oxygen depletion. It can also be derived from dissolved manganese in groundwater and commonly stains porcelain fixtures.Peaceful means of treatment ultimately prevail against this colored water, but use extreme caution, some variants can be deadly.

Brownwater or the tea-colored water famous in swampy areas along the Mississippi River and Amazon River where rotting vegetation and humic and fulvic acids abound.

Greenwater is precipitation water infiltrated into the soil (so-called ‘‘green water’’) made famous by the grand dame of water mavens Malin Falkinmark of the Stockholm International Water Institute. Also greywater that has been disinfected for later use for irrigation becomes green.

Bluewater is water withdrawn and water consumed (withdrawal minus return flow to the river system) from rivers, lakes and aquifers for the purpose of irrigation.Also found as the water in nuclear power plants where spent rods are stored, but the subject of a different blog (wherever that might be).

Redwater is common when the water purveyor is tinkering with piping network, especially old piping networks, where sediment and rust are stirred up during servicing.Can also be a function of iron bacteria in water.

Purplewater is sometimes thought derived from Purple Rain popularized by the performer once known as Prince, but now referred to as recycled water from wastewater treatment plants conveyed in purple colored pipes for non-potable uses.

Yellowwater is a variant of yellow snow, derived from “where the huskies go" (homage to Frank Zappa).